Computer Village Market in Perspective

The Computer Village market located in the heart of Ikeja in Lagos State is, arguably, the largest Computer market in Africa today with daily patronage from all over the country.

The market is replete with a lot of computer products and accessories as well as carrying out a variety of computer repairs tech services. The market has, in fact, been taunted as the proposed Silicon Valley of Nigeria.

I recently had a chat with Adeniyi Ojikutu, the President, Computer Village/CAPDAN on issues relating to the market.

On how the Computer Village market started, Adeniyi said that the market, in fact, started in 1994 in a period of unemployment.

He stated that the present day Computer Village market was occupied by Clearing agents, Law chambers and medical equipment dealers because of the locations proximity to the Airport, High court and Ikeja General Hospital respectively.

He went on to say that many of the unemployed graduates from these Universities and Polytechnics used to gather in a Room at Otigba street in the market at Ikeja and soon, because computers were just being introduced into Nigeria then, they started receiving demands for computers and it gradually grew into a big market.

On the impact the market is making on the economy today, Adeniyi is of the view that it is making a very huge impact.

In the first instance, he noted that the market is contributing the economic development of Lagos State, its host, and secondly the GDP of Nigeria as a nation.

He predicted that by 2019, Agriculture will be the leading contributor to the economy while technology will follow. All the 36 states in Nigeria, he noted, source their technology requirements from the Computer Village market.

Reacting to the notion that eCommerce outfits are now displacing the Computer Village market, Adeniyi emphasized that eCommerce platforms source from the Computer Village market, but with his coming on board as President/CAPDAN, he has already set in motion, a process that will enable consumers to deal directly with the Computer Village market on its platform instead of going through the eCommerce platforms.

He stated that talks are already on-going with about 16 Courier companies that will take care of the logistics aspect for fast and easy delivery of products to the customers.

Asked if he is satisfied with the progress made so far by the Computer Village market, Adeniyi stated that the market has just tapped into about 35% of its potentials so far. What is done in the market currently is provision of solutions to problems on systems.

He stated that to get to the next level, the market needs to start producing its own motherboard and linking these to the computers instead of merely assembling.

On the issue of trust, Adeniyi maintained that customer service is key, so, there will be a customer service orientation with a complaint desk and committees to deal with resolving issues. When asked what support the Computer Village market requires from the government to sustain the market, he stated that since the ICT sector is still employing while many white collar establishments are retrenching, ICT should be seen by the government as an industry that is creating employment, hence, government really needs to invest in the Computer Village market in order to give the market better ambience to carry out its business.

CFA is the Founder, www.CFAtech.ng & Co-producer/Presenter, Tech Trends on Channels Television